DANBURY — Trailing by nine in the third quarter of the Class LL quarterfinal game, Danbury did not panic.

The Hatters stuck to the game plan, chipping away at the Wilbur Cross lead until eventually taking the control midway through the fourth and racing to the finish line, beating the Governors 73-65 in front of a packed Danbury gym.

The No. 2 Hatters move on to face No. 3 Hillhouse in the semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. at Crosby High School in Waterbury.

Leading the Hatters’ rally was junior forward Marcus Fox who scored 20 points and senior guard Scott Nesbitt who put in 13 of his game-high 22 in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

“We just kept playing and we are a family and we knew that we are going to push out a win one way or another,” Nesbitt said. “We have to win (the semifinal). I want to go to the Sun. Semis isn’t good enough — we want to make it to the Sun. That is the motivation to keep coming to practice every day and keep playing hard knowing we have a chance to make it to the Sun.”

Danbury coach Casey Bock said Nesbitt has been the man all season and the fourth quarter was no different.

“He’s our scorer and he’s been our guy all year long and he stepped up big in the fourth quarter and he helped finish the game,” Bock said. “They got up by nine and our guys have been in a couple games like this now and our guys keep playing hard and playing together and fortunately we were able to come out on top.”

Danbury’s rally was aided by poor free-throw shooting by Wilbur Cross all night but especially in the second half. The Governors were 5-14 for the game and just 3-9 in the second half.

Cross coach Kevin Walton said the Hatters’ home crowd was a factor in their comeback, but add his team’s free-throw shooting was just as key.

“I think that is what happens when you get a quarterfinal on your home court. They were comfortable,” Walton said. “They made plays and the difference comes down to they made their free throws down the stretch and basketball comes down to rebounding, turnovers and free throws and I think they definitely won that department, so, hats off to them.”

Cross we led by 12 points from Jaykeen Foreman and 11 each from Robert Duran and Will Antrum.

By contrast, Danbury made 16 of 22 free throws in the fourth quarter as Cross began fouling with 2:30 remaining down five.

Bock said his team was down after losing the FCIAC championship game to Westhill but knew they could hit the reset button in the state tournament. He added his core of seniors will do anything to keep playing.

“These kids just have a lot of heart,” Bock said. “I have four great seniors that don’t want the season to end. Our first Sunday practice (after FCIAC final) the first 20 minutes we felt sorry for ourselves and then we got over it.”